Machines for making paper boxes



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MACHINES FOR MAKING PAPER BOXES original Filed sept. 415, 1945 9 sheets-sheet '7 y 1N V EN TOR. 62A yro/v ,5r/m w lex/@MKM cui? c. sTRAw MACHINES FOR MAKING PAPER BOXES original Filed sept. 15, 1945 March 1.1, 1958 v 9 sheets-sheet s fas ' INVENToR.

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INVENTORY 62A V70/V Srfm W l ATTORNEY.

United Sttes gaaanz? MACHINES FOR Maroni; PAPER Boxes Clayton Straw, Henniker, N. H., assigner to Henry Russell Davis, Jr., South Lincoln, Mass.

14 Claims. (Cl. 93--51) This invention relates to paper box forming and staying machines, and comprises a division of my Patent No. 2,641,973, granted June 16, 1953, to which reference may be had as to all parts shown in the drawings, but not specifically described herein. Such patent contains a further application of the principles of my Patent No. 2,367,698, granted January 23, 1945, such earlier patent setting forth methods and apparatus for applying heatactivated stay material to the corners of paper boxes in the process of forming the boxes.

In the present patent is set forth the manner and means to improve the blank-feeding mechanism so as to reduce the travel of the blanks from the hopper to the form, which is lof special importance in making small boxes, and to provide continuous mechanical control of the advance of the blank until positioned beneath the form, to provide the variation of the speed of transport of the blank in proportion to its size, and to preserve the proper timing of the blank feeding devices with respect to t-he other parts of the machine automatically and without need for hand adjustment when the length of the blank is changed.

Another object is to provide improved means for guiding the box blanks to the form, and for holding the side and end portions of the blanks about the form.

Still further objects are to provide a mechanical takeout for the boxes, timing their discharge from the machine accurately so as to synchronize with attachments or other machines performing further operations on the boxes, and to make this take-out easily removable when not needed or in the way.

Another object is to provide an improved give-way automatically disconnecting the form from its drive, to prevent breakage upon occurrence of a jam, and to provide micrometrically exact adjustment of the bottom limit of the forms travel.

Other objects of the invention, and the manner of attainment of these and the aims detailed above, are as set forth in the following description.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation.

Fig. 3 is a plan view with the stay feeders and their supports removed to show the actuation of the corner pressers.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 1 together with the form and the side-bending rails, showing the means for adjusting the machine for different lengths of boxes.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the parts at the left-hand end of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation showing the provision for adjusting the machine for different widths of boxes, by moving the rails carrying the corner blocks widthwise of the machine.

Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows the give-way connection between the arent; o

Ffice,

plunger carrying the form and the yoke which actuates the plunger.

Fig. 9 shows in side elevation the blank feeder, its actuation, and its adjustment in relation to the corner guides and the form.

Fig. l0 is an end elevation of the delivery end of the blank feeder showing the drives for the blank-feed rolls and the adjustment of the guide plates for supporting the sides of a stack of blanks.

Fig. 1l is an end elevation from the other end showing certain details of the blank hopper and the drive for its feeding devices.

Fig. 12 shows the mechanical take-out applied to the side folders.

Fig. 13 shows the drive for the parallel shafts actuating the take-out.

Fig. 14 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the lower left-hand corner block and corner presser of Fig. 3.

Fig. 15 is an end elevation of the parts of Fig. 14.

Fig. 16 is a detail on an enlarged scale showing in elevation the feeder-slide and its associated parts and the drive therefor.

Fig. 17 is a detail showing in end elevation certain of the parts of Fig. 16.

The frame of the new machine is a housing 1 which is supported on feet or rails 3 and which is completely closed on all sides except at the central area of the top and at one end where an aperture is left for the discharge of the set-up boxes by means of a conveyor belt 5 running around a spring-biased idler '7 and a corresponding driving roll within the housing. A motor 9 is mounted on the outside of the housing by a suitable bracket, and by means of belts, pulleys and reduction gearing drives a gear 19 on the main shaft 21 of the machine. A face cam 27 is fixed on shaft 21 near each end thereof, and drives cross-head 29 carrying plunger 31 and form 33 thereon up and down as heretofore by means of rods 35 and arms 37 linked to the lower end thereof, the arms being pivoted at 39 to bosses on the inside of the housing and equipped with cam followers working in the paths formed in the faces of cams 27.

The drive for the stay feeding and applying devices located above main table 64 of the machine comprises a pressure lever 51 connected by a pivoted and yielding link 47 with a strap 45 surrounding an eccentric 43 fixed at mid-length of main shaft 21. The pressure lever is apertured as shown in Fig. 2 to permit the take-out belt 5 to extend clear through the front end of the machine if desired.

Pressure lever 51 is clamped and keyed to a rockshaft 57 at mid-length thereof. The rockshaft is provided with a plurality of ilutes 59, Fig. 5, to provide for width adjustment of two arms 61, which are in effect the upper end of the pressure lever 51. The -hubs of these arms are provided with keyways to receive the flutes 59, and the arms work in slots in the ends of two rails 63, supported on main table 64, Fig. 3, which is the plate forming the top of the machine and apertured at its center. Since these rails are shitfed toward and from each other in widening and narrowing the machine, the position of arms 61 widthwise of shaft 57 is corresponding shifted.

These arms 61, Figs. 4 and 5, through intermediate links 65 and operatively fixed connections 67, 75, reciprocate the pressure screws 73 which work the heated corner pressers 83, Fig. 3, which afx stay material coated with heat-activated adhesive across the corners of the box after it has been set up around the form 33. Rotation of these pressure screws 73, after momentarily loosening sleeve nuts 75, is effected through gears 103, 105, pinions 107, and table screws 109, Fig. 5, each rotated by its hand-crank 113, Fig. 4, to accommodate the changed position of the corner pressers 83 incident to adapting the machine to a dierent length of box.

The corner pressers 83 are slidably mounted in corner blocks 85, Fig. 3, and are actuated by racks 77, S1, and pinion '79 when the pressure screws 73 are reciprocated by pressure lever S1 and arms 61 connected therewith. The rotation of table screws 199 within nuts 115, Fig. 15, on the corner blocks 85 shifts the two corner blocks of each rail 63 simultaneously in opposite directions to iit the length of the box to be made, and driving connection is at all times maintained with the corner pressers 83 without loss of their proper relationship to their respective corner blocks, namely, without change of their proper starting point, stroke and pressure.

The width adjustment to tit the size of box desired is accomplished by moving the two rails 63, carrying the corner blocks and corner pressers, toward and from each other by means of screws 145, Figs. 3, 6 and 7, rotated in unison by chain 148 and sprockets by means of handcrank 147. Nuts 1.63, re-tightened after the shift, cause bolts 159 to hold the rails in adjusted position.

S ide and end-folders In accordance with the invention, the improved side and end-folders which set up the flaps of the box blank about the form include two upstanding plates or folding members 123, Figs. 3, 4, 12, 14, l5, rigidly mounted on each corner block 85. The plates of each corner block are disposed at right angles to each other, and thus edgewise to the two sides of the form meeting at such corner. Thus the plates on adjacent corner blocks come together atwise as the corner blocks are moved toward each other. Each plate which is at right angles to rails 63 has a small horizontal bracket 125, Figs. 12 and 15, xed to its top end, in which bracket is a dove-tailed slot. In these slots of the two transversely extending plates on the two associated corner blocks mounted on each rail 63 is located a member 127 of dove-tail section on which is tixedly mounted a guide plate 129, Figs. 4 and l2, having a wide horizontal surface to support each blank being fed, and a narrower obliquely inclined surface which slopes inwardly and downwardly into close proximity with the path of the form 33. These guide plates are equipped with vertical edge guides 131 to engage the side edges of the advancing blank and center it under the form. When the form descends, the oblique portion of such member 129 and the bend or shoulder between the oblique and the horizontal portions form a bending rail setting up the sides of the box around the form. Thus each guide plate 129 is supported by two uprights, the plates 123 on each of the two corner blocks of that side of the machine. The dove-tail member 127 is adjustably fixed in one of its two brackets 125 by forming one side of the dove-tail in such bracket as a separate gib 133 clamped against the side of the member by a screw 134, while the member slides freely in the other bracket, so that the guide plate 129 will normally be in proper relation to its two corner blocks and the form without separate adjustment, as the two corner blocks are moved together or apart in narrowing or widening the machine by moderate amounts. As the form descends on a blank resting on plates 129, the side ilaps of the blank are folded upward and the inward edges of plates 123 hold the flaps in this position as the form continues its downward course.

The four end-folders 123 which are disposed parallel to rails 63 are lower than those just described (see Fig. 12)` have no guide plates or other parts, but engage the end flaps of the blank to bend them up across the ends of the form 33 after guide plates 129 have done so with the side flaps of the blank. It is noted that the inward working edges of all eight of these upright folding members have a relatively long upward and outward bevel 130, Fig. 15, at their top ends, which prolongs the folding action they perform on the side and end flaps throughout a longer part of the descent of the form, which at the high speed of operation with which the boxes are set up and stayed in the present machine serves to prevent the breaking of the sides away from the bottom of the box along the score line between these parts, since the folding-up of the sides and ends is thus caused to take place more gradually.

The shape of these side and end-folders 123 permits the corner blocks 35 to be set very close together, and thus permits the machine to be closed up to permit the making of very small boxes.

F arm drive To make the corner pressers and the stay-cutting blades and other parts at the center of the machine more easily accessible, as well as to introduce a safety feature preventing breakage or springing of parts when jams occur, a give-way connection shown in Figs. 2 and 8 is provided between the square plunger 31 carrying the form 33 and the reciprocating cross-head 29 which actuatcs it. For this purpose, plunger 31 is slidably mounted in a sleeve 32 of rectangular section which is held in operatively fixed position in a square seat in cross-head 29 by a iiat clamping plate 34% applied to the cross-head by cap screws 36. A lug 38 is formed on plunger' 31 near the top thereof, which is engaged from above by a detent lever 4) pivoted at 42 on a bracket forming a part of sleeve 32 and pressed downward on top of lug 38 by an expanding coil spring 44 conned between a seat 46 pivotally mounted on a lug on an arm 48 integral with the detent and a corresponding seat 50 forming a part of sleeve 32. By pressing down manually on the handle or arm 48 detent 4th is withdrawn from above lug 38 on the plunger, permitting the latter to be slid upward through sleeve 32 by manual pull on knob 52, thus lifting the form 33 up to the cross-head and giving free access to the region below the form. Detent 40 bears against the side of plunger 31 when handle 48 is released, to hold the plunger and form in lifted position out of the way while work is being performed beneath it. Thereafter, manual pressure on handle 48 retracts detent 40 to let the form and plunger descend until lug 38 rests on top of sleeve 32, whereupon release of the lever permits detent 441 to resume its position above lug 38 holding the latter in normal working position against sleeve 32. When any substantial obstruction to the descent of form 33 is met with in the course of the operation of the machine detent 40 yields upwardly and moves away from plunger 31, permitting lug 38 to snap past it and allowing the descent of the form to be checked while cross-head 29 continues to descend, thus preventing any breakage of parts` This mechanism also provides for very accurate adjustment of the spaced relation of the form with respect to the cross-head, to tix the exact extent of downward travel of the form, by means of a thumb screw 54 having an unthreaded shank received in a cavity formed in cross-head 29 and seating against the bottom of such cavity, and an upwardly extending threaded shank in screw-engagement with a lug 56 integral with sleeve 32. Thus, when screws 36 of clamping plate 34 are loosened, screw 54 is turned one way or the other to raise sleeve 32 or to let it down with respect to cross-head 29, thus raising or lowering the form relative to the latter, the adjustment being maintained by retightening of screws 36.

This micrometric adjustment is used to adjust the descent of the form to suit the depth of box being made thereon. By raising or lowering the form thereby, with respect to the cross-head 29, the cutting oi and application of the stay in proper relation to the top edge of the box is accomplished.

Blank-feeding devices Improvements in the blank-feeding devices with the objects set forth in the preamble hereof include the mounting of the feeding devices on the main table so as to be adjustable as a unit toward and from the path of the form. For this purpose, the hopper 287, Figs. 1, 9, 10, 11, has its bottom 289 slidably mounted by means of a heavy rib 291 on its under side in guides 293 on the top edges of a box-like housing or stand 295, Fig. 9, attached by cap screws 296 to main table 64 over an aperture 297 cut in table 64 at the middle of its width. In this housing is fixed a vertical plate 299, Figs. 9 and 11, stretching across the interior of the housing and fixed in place by cap screws 298 put through the side walls of the housing into the plate 299. A bracket 301 fixed on the end of hopper bottom 289 carries a screw 303 which is threaded through fixed plate 299, the screw being prevented from endwise movement in bracket 301 so that manual rotation of the screw by handle 305 advances or retracts the hopper as a unit toward and from the path of the form 33. The hopper has an end-plate 307 which is supported with its lower edge above hopper bottom 289, by one short side wall 309 and one long side wall 311, both attached to the side edges of bottom 289, the latter side wall having a housing 379, Fig. ll, applied to its outward surface and serving as a guard for the actuating members of a blank pusher 365.

End-wall 307 is provided with the usual gate comprising a member 313, Fig. 10, vertically adjustable in dovetail guides in end-plate 307 so that its lower end may be spaced accurately from a bevelled plate 315, Fig. 9, by a distance exactly equalling the thickness of the blanks to be fed, so as to permit only one blank at a time to be fed forward from the bottom of a stack of blanks lying with their leading edges against the inward surface of endplate 307.

To provide lateral support for a stack of blanks and to position the stack accurately on the center line of the hopper, plates 308 are supported in vertical planes extending lengthwise of the hopper by horizontal headers 310 of rectangular section having grooves in which the plates are fixed. Each of the two headers 310 extends through a slot 312 in end-plate 307 and is provided with an upstanding end portion 314 which is drilled and tapped transversely to fit upon an adjusting screw 316 having right and left-hand threads engaging the respective end portions 314. Screw 316 is mounted for free rotation in bearings 318 mounted on the side plates 309, 311, respectively, and upon rotation of the screw by crank 320 the two plates are adjusted toward or from each other to fit the width of the stack so as to support its sides and maintain them parallel to the line of feed. Each member 314 is split from its threaded passage through ilus upper end and provided with clamping screws 322 whereby each member is clamped to the screw and the adjustment maintained.

To feed the blanks one by one from the bottom of the stack along the hopper bottom and through the gate, a feeder-slide 317, Figs. 1l, 16, 17, works in a T-slot cut longitudinally along the center line of hopper bottom 289, the feeder-slide having a device 319 to slip under the stack and push the bottom blank through the gate. To actuate the feeder-slide, a cam-follower roll 321 is mounted on a pin fixed in a lug 322 integral with feeder-slide 317 and extending through a slot 323 cut through the heavy rib 291 of the hopper bottom below the T-slot therein. Follower-roll 321 works in a cam-groove or path 325 in a combined barrel and end-cam 327 fixed on a splined shaft 329 rotating in bearings 331 depending from the under side of rib 291. This shaft is driven by a sprocket 333 having a hub slotted to take the spline on the shaft, and held against endwise movement with the shaft as the hopper is adjusted forward or back from the form by fitting the reduced intermediate part of the hub into a slot formed in the top of plate 299 fixed in the housing 295. Sprocket 333 is driven by a chain 335 passing through the aperture 297 in main table 64 and through a registering opening in the foot of plate 299, the chain being driven by a sprocket 337, Figs. 1 and 11, fixed on a jackshaft 339 mounted in suitable bearings in a baffle plate 341, Fig. 1,v extending across the interior of the machine from one side wall to the other. This jackshaft is driven by bevel gears from the transverse shaft 342 driven by chain 247 from main shaft 21.

The actual feeding device 319, Figs. 16, 17, is xed to feeder-slide 317 with capacity for its adjustment lengthwise thereof to suit the length of blank being fed, by cutting a T-slot 343 lengthwise in the feeder-slide, and putting a screw 345 down through the member 319 into a rectangular block 347 occupying the wide part of this T-slot, the feeder device having a tongue 348 which also fits into the upper portion of such T-slot to hold it against rotation on the feeder-slide. After adjustment to the proper lengthwise position, tightening of the screw 345 causes the block to clamp against the overhanging sides of the slot and fix the device in the adjusted position. The top surface of feeding device 319 inclines upwardly and away from the end-plate 307 of the hopper and is equipped at its high end with thin metal plates 318 applied to its inclined surface which are of exact thickness of the stock being used for the blanks, so that the lowermost blank in the stack will settle in front of them as this end of the feeding device passes back out from under the stack, and on its next forward stroke this one blank alone will be fed from the bottom of the stack through the gate. The blanks are confined between end-plate 307 and back-stop 349, Figs. 1, 9, 16, this back-stop having an upright part to engage the rearward edge of the stacked up blanks and a foot 350 at right angles thereto and of dovetail section fitting within a dove-tail 351, Fig. ll, in the hopper bottom above the T-slot for the feeder-slide. The foot of the back-stop is split vertically and expanded to hold the foot in position after having been adjusted lengthwise of the hopper bottom to suit the length of the blanks, by tightening a wing-nut 353 on the shank of a screw put through the split and having a downwardly flaring head engaging the sides of the split.

The rear edge of feeding device 319 is slotted so that the blank-grasping edges of the plates 318 can pass back of the working surface of back-stop 349, to ensure getting beyond the edge of the bottom blank and make sure this blank is slid out from under the stack by the plates 318 on the next forward movement of feeding device 319. When very small boxes are being made, the metal plates 318 are located near the front edge of the feeding device 319, and an extension 355 is mounted on the back-stop comprising a metal strip fixed to the top of the backstop and extending forward and downward into proximity with the surface of feeding device 319, thus keeping the rear edge of the stack forward of the rearward position of these plates 318 while providing for a relatively longer useful part of the feeding stroke of the feeding device 319.

The function of the feeding device just described is to feed the blanks successively from the bottom of the stack through the gate and into the nip of a pair of feed rolls 357, 359. The actual travel of the leading edge of the blank from its starting point below the rearward surface of end-plate 307 until it is seized by the feed rolls is on the order of only 1% inches, ensuring c-omplete control of the blank during this movement.

The top roll 357, Figs. 9, 10, of the pair of feed rolls propelling the blank is divided into two entirely separate halves, which are respectively mounted on anti-friction bearings 360 on aligned stub-shafts 361 fixed in brackets 363 mounted on the front face of end-plate 307 of the hopper. This permits a blank-pusher 365 to swing back behind this divided roll to get back of the rearward edge of the blank being fed by the feed rolls before such blank has been released by the feed rolls, so that the pusher can take over the propulsion of this blank just as its rearward edge passes out from the nip of the upper end lower feed rolls, and thus maintain the positive mechanical control of the blank from the moment it starts forward beneath-the stack and until it reaches its fmal position beneath the form 33. Bottom feed roll 359 is grooved as indicated at 367 also, so that the end of the pusher can extend below the level of the nip of the rolls and take over the feeding of the blank the instant it is released by the feed rolls.

To drive the two halves of the upper feed roll 357 in unison, a pinion gear 369 is fixed to the end of each half thereof, one of such gears being driven by a pinion 371 fixed on the end of a jack-shaft 373 driven by V-pulley 375 and `Jbelt 276 passing therearound, from a motor 377 mounted on the housing 379 on the outside of the long `side wall 311 of the hopper, and extending for the full length thereof.

The drive for the other half of divided top roll 357 is carried up from driving pinion 371 to pinion 372, thence across via shaft 374 to pinion 376, `and thence through idler` 378 to the gear 369 fixed on the end of the other half of top feed roll 357, these parts being all supported by the brackets 363. The vertical spaced relation of cross-shaft 374 from rolls 357 permits sufficient swing of the pusher 365 to let its lower end reach back of the nip line of the feed rolls.

The belt 376 also passes around a V-pulley 381 fixed on a jackshaft 383 mounted in bearings 334 on the under side of hopper bottom 239, the jackshaft driving a spur gear 385 which meshes with an idler gear 387 which in turn engages with gear 389 fixed on the end of bottom feed roll 359. The latter roll and its idler gear 387 are mounted in brackets 391 swinging around jackshaft 353 and suitably spring-biased as by spring 392 to hold the bottom feed roll up to the top feed roll, but with capacity for yielding movement downward as the blank passes through.

Pusher 365 is an arm fixed by means of its hub on a rockshaft 393 working in a bearing 395 formed on a bracket 397 attached to the front wall of the end-plate 307. This rockshaft is actuated by a short arm 399 fixed on the rackshaft and connected by a link 401, Fig. 9, extending within the housing 379 where it is connected to an arm 403, Figs. 9 and l1, fixed on a rockshaft 405 working in a sleeve bearing 407 on the under side of yhopper bottom 289. A bent arm 409 fixed on the other end of this rockshaft has a cam-follower roll 411 which is held against an end cam 413, Fig. 9, -on barrel cam 327 by a pull spring 415 attached to link 401 within the housing 379 and anchored to a screw in side wall 311. Thus as the barrel cam revolves, pusher 365 is alternately swung positively toward the form to propel the box blank toward the form, and is swung yieldingly in the opposite direction to bring the pusher back beyond the nip of feed rolls 357, 359 for its next operation.

The working end of the pusher 365 swings in a path well below the nip-line of the two feed rolls, by Virtue of the groove 367 in the lower feed roll, as already noted, and 1s timed by the angular adjustment of its end cam 413 when the machine is first set up so that it will just finish its working stroke and come to rest as the form 33 descends into contact with the blank, the pusher pushing the blank forward along guide rails 129, Fig. 9, onto which it is fed by the feed rolls, and into position against adjustable stops 417 on the end of adjusting screws 419, and holding the blank against rebound. Two of these stops 417 are provided, each located on one of the two end-folders 123 at the side of the path of the form which is remote from the hopper, each stop having swiveling connection with the end of an adjusting screw 419 threaded through an eye in a bracket 420 xed on the top end of each member 123, these stops serving to center and square up the blank with respect to the form in the lengthwise direction of the machine.

To adjust the stroke of the pusher to a different length of box blank and a correspondingly different position of each stop 417, so that the box blank will neither be crumpled against the stops nor stop short of arrival thereat, no change is made in the length of the pushers stroke regardless of the difference in blank sizes. In-

stead, the whole hopper is adjusted bodily toward or from the path of the form by the described single operation of turning the crank 305.

The virtue of this improved manner of Ioperation is that no change in the timing of any part of the reciprocating feeding device or the pusher is needed in changing over the machine to a different size of box, and no risk of the loss of timing is incurred. This is in decided contrast with prior machines of this type in which the scope of movement of the pusher or other feeding devices has to be readjusted painstakingly for each different size of box being made. The saving in the time required for making the change-over is obvious and material.

rThe fact that the entire hopper is adjustable toward and from 'the path of the form makes possible a refinement which is of considerable advantage in high speed production. Not only does the present structure provide 'for shortening the path of small box blanks from the stack to the form, thus reducing the chance of a blank going astray in feeding, but also provides for reduction of the speed of propulsion of the blank itself by the feed rolls as the size of the boxes to be made decreases. Since the same proportion of the machines cycle is available for feeding both large and small blanks, and since the rate of surface travel of the feed rolls 357 and 359 needed for feeding large box blanks is far in excess of that needed for feeding small box blanks, the speed of the feed rolls is reduced proportionately to the blanks length, thus making easier the attainment of the necessary accuracy of feed of these smaller blanks. For this purpose the motor 377 driving the feed rolls is equipped with a speed control 421, Fig. 10, of standard or any preferred design, preferably of the electronic control type, for changing the speed of the motor and thus of the feed rolls.

The outstanding advantage of the whole blank feeding structure is that there is never any time when the blank is not under complete mechanical control from the time it starts to move under the bottom of the stack in the hopper to the moment when it is encountered by the descending form. From the moment the blank to be fed leaves the back-stop 349 it is successively and continuously engaged by at least one of the feeding devices, first the feeder 319, then the feed rolls 357, 359, then the pusher 365, and then the form 33; and throughout its movement the blank is supported from below successively by the bottom of the hopper, the lower feed roll, and the guide-bars 129, entering between side-guides 131 on the latter members before it is released by the feed rolls. At the instant the pusher brings the blank up against the adjustable stops 417 at the far side of the path of the form, the form engages the top surface of the blank and presses it against the top of the guide-bars 129, while the sides of the blank are held from deviation and the blank from rotation by the side-guides 131.

These novel provisions make it possible for the machine to operate on blanks of a size smaller than have hitherto been capable of being handled by any automatic box making machine.

M echancal take-out Fig. l2 shows the features of the mechanical take-out for discharging the finished boxes from the chute comprised by the side-folding and end-folding members in accurately and properly timed and spaced relation so as to synchronize with attachments (not shown) performing special operations on the boxes, as for example applying flanged bottoms, or with other machines performing further operations on the boxes, as where the boxes are of sufficiently large size to warrant being mechanically nested by a box stacker. In the absence of some such take-out mechanism, the boxes sometimes lag in the chute, and two or three will descend together. When the boxes are of very small size and thus do not admit of being nested, and are not to be additionally worked maza/127:

on by special attachments to the machine, the mechanical take-out is superiiuous, and therefore is arranged to be removed easily when not needed. Thus, each of the four side-folders 123 respectively connected with the four corner blocks 85, and located at the longitudinal sides of the form, is replaced by side-folders 124 prolonged below the rails 63 and center frame as shown in Fig. 12 and carried well down toward the take-out belt 5, Fig. 1, and equipped with a sprocket 423 rotatably mounted on a stud 425 iixed in the side-folder, and around this sprocket passes a take-out chain 427, equipped with carrier links having projections 429 to engage the top rims of the boxes and carry them down and out from the chute. The lower loop of the chain passes around a sprocket 431 mounted by means of its extended hub in a bearing adjustable up and down in the lower end of side-folder 124, the hub being retained by a collar on the end of the hub and such hub having an axial hexago nal passage therethrough to receive hexagonal shaft 433, Fig. 13, driving the two take-out chains located on each side of the path of the form. These shafts are each detachably held by one of their ends in a hexagonal socket in the hub of a bevel gear 435, being held in such socket by ball snaps for instant removal. The respective bevel gears are driven by other bevel gears 437 splined to a cross-shaft 439 provided with a long feather, each -pair of bevel gears being enclosed in a housing 441 floating on cross-shaft 439, so that the housings and driver bevel gears will shift with the corner blocks in widening and narrowing the machine.

Cross-shaft 439 is driven by spur pinions 443, 445, at an increased speed from cross-shaft 342, Figs. 1, 11, 13, feathered shaft 439 being carried in radius arms 447 swinging about the adjacent shaft 342 to permit lowering of the two hexagonal shafts 433 as needed in order to keep the take-out chains 427 tight in use. By this means all four take-out chains are driven in unison with their inward runs traveling in a downward direction and with their corresponding projections 429 moving in unison.

To remove the take-out mechanism when not needed, it is merely necessary to remove the single screw 449 which cooperates with a pair of pins fixed in the side of the corner block 85 to hold each long side-folder 124 in working position thereon, and then pull out each of the hexagonal shafts 433 from their sockets in bevel gears 435, whereupon each shaft with two of the side-folders borne thereon is taken out of the machine as a unit. The regular short side-folders 123 as illustrated in Fig. l extending only down to the bottoms of the corner blocks are then mounted to replace the long ones thus removed.

While I have illustrated and described certain forms in which the invention may be embodied, l am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular forms shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but what I do claim is:

1. In a box-making machine, in combination, a vertically reciprocating form, blank-feeding devices, movable corner blocks, corner pressers mounted in the latter and movable toward and from the corners of the form in paths diagonal to the sides thereof, and means folding the side aps of a box blank around the form including bending rails, and a plurality of plates rigidly mounted on each corner block disposed vertically in planes at right angles to each other and edgewise respectively to the two sides of the form meeting at such corner and coming together tlatwise as the corner blocks are moved toward each other.

2. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up the boxes about the form, means applying stay material to the corners of the box, a reciproeating member actuating the form, and means operatively 10 connecting the form with. such reciprocating member with capacity for instant manual release, such means also permitting the shifting and thereupon effecting the holding of the form out of its working range of movement.

3. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up the boxes about the form, means applying stay material to the corners of the box, a reciprocating member making a stroke of fixed length, a plunger carrying the form, and screw means operatively connecting the plunger with the reciprocating member providing micrometric advance or retraction of the plunger with respect to the reciprocating member.

4. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up the boxes about the form, means applying stay material to the corners of the box, a reciprocating member, a plunger carrying the form, a sleeve fixed on the reciprocating member and surrounding the plunger, means operatively fixing the plunger within the sleeve with capacity for release, and micrometric adjusting means shifting the sleeve on the reciprocating member to vary the limits of the movement of the form.

5. In a box-making machine, in combination, a reciprocating form, means bending a box blank into box shape about the form, members carrying the bending means, guideways on which such members are slidably mounted, a shaft having right and left handed screws, nuts in connection with the said members and propelled along the shaft simultaneously in opposite directions upon rotation of the latter to adjust the members and the bending means toward and from each other, and means clamping the nuts against the guideways to maintain the adjustment of the parts thus obtained.

6. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up box blanks into box shape about the form, a hopper holding the box blanks, means feeding the blanks to the form and setting-up means, and means moving the hopper and feeding means as a unit towards and from the path of the form.

7. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up box blanks into box shape about the form, a hopper holding the box blanks, reciprocating means in the hopper feeding the blanks to the form and setting-up means, a cam-follower rigidly connected with the reciprocating means, a path cam engaged by the follower, and means driving the cam in timed relation to the movements of the form.

8. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up box blanks into box shape about the form, a hopper holding the box blanks, a reciprocating feeding device pushing a blank out from the hopper, feed rolls grasping the blank while still being propelled by the said feeding device, and a pusher engaging the blank while grasped by the feed rolls, and pushing it from the feed rolls to the form, the form engaging the blank while the latter is still engaged by the pusher.

9. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up box blanks into box shape about the form, a hopper holding the box blanks, means including a pusher feeding a blank from the hopper to the form, and means adjusting the hopper and the pusher as a unit toward and from the form to accommodate different sizes of blanks without changing the stroke of the pusher.

10. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up box blanks into box shape about the form, a hopper holding the box blanks, means including a pusher feeding a blank from the hopper to the form, and feed rolls presenting a blank to the pusher including a feed roll engaging one surface of the blank and two feed rolls engaging the other surface of the blank and axially spaced apart to enable the pusher to engage the rear edge of the blank while the blank is still gripped by the feed rolls.

11. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means setting up box blanks into box shape about the assale? form, a hopper holding the box blanks, means including a pusher feeding a blank from the hopper to the form, and feed rolls presenting a blank to the pusher one of which rolls terminates within the area of the blank being fed, whereby the pusher passes the axis of such roll to engage the rear edge of the blank while the latter is engaged by the rolls.

12. In a box-making machine, in combination, a form, means bending box blanks into box shape about the form, means applying stay material to the corners of the box, a reciprocating member, a plunger carrying the form and slidable in such member, and a detent on such member connecting the plunger and member to move in unison throughout the bending of the box blanks about the form and also adapted to hold the plunger and form out of working relation with the bending means in all positions of the reciprocating member.

13. In a box-making machine, in combination, a vertically reciprocating form, blank-feeding devices, corner blocks, corner pressers mounted in the latter and movable toward and from the corners of the form in paths diagonal to the sides thereof, and means folding the side-folders of a box blank around the form including bending rails, and a pair of thin plates on each corner b1ock respectively disposed vertically and edgewise to the confronting sides of the form, rigidly mounted on each corner block, and having substantially vertical blank-guiding edges spaced apart by substantially the width of the corner presser lying between them.

14. The combination according to claim 13, in which a guide plate is supported in operatively Xed position by two of such vertical plates, having an inclined surface sloping inwardly and downwardly into proximity to the path of the form and also having a substantially horizontal surface supporting and guiding the blank in its progress to the form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 728,086 Davis et al May 12, 1903 1,000,991 Comings Aug. 22, 1911 1,113,217 House Oct. 13, 1914 1,715,585 Woodworth June 4, 1929 1,915,976 Brodsky June 27, 1933 2,030,071 Newhouse et al Feb. 11, 1936 2,226,588 Simpson Dec. 31, 1940 2,583,713 Shields Jan. 29, 1952 

